With the retirement of the Q-5, China will need a new, low-cost bomb-carrier to replace it. The JF-17 Thunder is the obvious choice, but up until now, the Chinese have shown little interest in it, beyond export. By comparison, the J-10 isn't really suited to ground attack, (and has proven to be something of a disappointment.) and the various su-27/33 clones are not cost effective, though certainly more effective as weapons. The JF-17 would also have a better chance in air-to-air encounters, but China may be thinking big, so it could be that the su-27 will be the new ground attack system, just as the US did with the F15. I will be interested in seeing where this goes.